The government will also appoint an emergency management commissioner to control all responses and operations. However, the appointment is not expected until next year after appropriate legislation is passed.

“Some reforms will be implemented immediately, some will take time and some will be challenging to implement," Mr Baillieu said.

The chief commissioner would take control in the event of a terrorist attack.

The white paper sets out four key reforms including more engagement with the community on disaster planning and crisis management, an increase in critical infrastructure, and a clear response to emergencies on top of the new committee structure.

However, the government has stopped short of amalgamating the state’s fire services. Emergency Services Minister
Peter Ryan
said the different authorities were trained with different skills.

“I think that each of the entities has its own ethos, has developed through the years its own particular place in things and we need to make sure that we respect that," Mr Ryan said.

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The reforms are the first major overhaul of the state’s emergency management system since 1986.

Mr Ryan, whose portfolio will change to Minister for Emergency Management, said more than forty government committees involved in emergency management would be reduced to four.

However, he assured the public no fire fighting positions would be cut as a result of the reforms.

The suggestion by the United Firefighters Union that new reforms would mean jobs would be cut and would not improve the state’s fire fighting capability was “preposterous, alarmist and unnecessarily so", Mr Ryan said.

He said the new commissioner gives certainty as to “who actually runs the show" when it comes to emergency services responses.

Mr Ryan hailed the new overarching body as an end to the “turf wars" which are now “dead in the water".

State opposition spokeswoman
Jacinta Allan
said while the reforms were welcome, funding cuts to the state’s fire services would continue to jeopardise the operational capacity of Victoria’s fire services.

“The emergency services white paper is months overdue and will not make up for the $66 million in budget cuts that have been inflicted on the country and metropolitan fire authorities by the Baillieu Liberal National government," Ms Allan said.